Teen Allegedly Admits To Killing 59-Year-Old Woman & Her 7-Year-Old Grandson With Hammer

A 16-year-old boy in Tennessee has been charged with two counts of murder in the first degree of 59-year-old Sherry Cole and her seven-year-old grandson, Jessie Allen, earlier this year. Due to the boy's age, the suspect has not been named, but prosecutors want to try him as an adult. Greene County District Attorney Dan Armstrong said on April 27, 2022 according to WJHL, “I think it’s necessary to file to transfer him to an adult court. That’s the only punishment that really meets the crime. Depending on what the grand jury returned as the charge, let’s say they were to return two first-degree murder counts, at that point I would have the option of life without parole.”

Police say the teen beat the victims to death and admitted to the crime. The bodies of Sherry Cole and Jessie Allen were found at a home in rural Greene County, Tenn., shortly after midnight on April 25. The teen suspect was arrested at the scene and has been charged with murder. Armstrong said the severity and the brutality of the crime led his office to ask the Juvenile Court judge to transfer the teen to adult court. “The circumstances of this case are bone-chilling,” said Dan Armstrong, reports WBIR.

The two bodies were found behind the house and deputies found puddles of blood and tools, “some of which were covered in blood,” next to a Ford Bronco at the house. Officials claim a hammer was used to repeatedly strike Cole and Allen in their heads and that the teen had planned to kill them a day prior. A motive for their deaths has not been revealed. “The difference between what a child would be facing if they remain in juvenile court for first-degree murder and what a child would be sentenced to if convicted of that same charge as an adult is huge,” said Chloe Akers, a lawyer who represents kids in juvenile transfer cases.

Jessie Allen was a second-grader at Fall Branch Elementary School where they have set up a memorial fund to offset funeral expenses for the family. “There’s mourning, definitely. You know, very deep in grief right now just trying to understand, which is difficult in these kinds of situations,” Superintendent of Washington County TN Schools Jerry Boyd told WJHL. “And then trying to pull together as a family to support one another through this and as a school system, we want to provide that wrap-around service and support.” A little over $1,900 has been raised so far.